Renting by room could earn homeowners £6500 per year

EasyRoommate.com carried out a detailed analysis of the rental market, comparing average room rentals to average property rentals on a typical three-bedroom house for towns and cities across the UK.

It discovered that by renting on a room-by-room rather than whole property basis, in many cases homeowners could significantly increase the amount of rental income coming in every month.

For example, in the North East town of Hartlepool, homeowners looking to rent their properties can potentially earn an additional £545 a month, or £6540 a year, by renting out the three bedrooms individually to tenants rather than renting the whole property.

In Barnsley, meanwhile, room rental can generate as much as £490 a month, or £5880 a year, of additional income compared to whole property rental.

In the popular seaside town of Great Yarmouth, homeowners can potentially boost their rental income by as much as 80% by renting out their properties on a room-by-room basis.

Across the UK as a whole, the average rental cost of a three-bedroom house in February was £782 per month, according to property search engine, Globrix.

The average room rent, according to EasyRoommate.com, is £375 per month, which means homeowners can typically generate an additional £343 per month if they choose to rent on a room, rather than whole property, basis.

Of the major cities, Birmingham homeowners are in the best position to reap the benefits of room rental. According to property search engine, Globrix, the average three-bed property in Birmingham rents for £600 a month, while the average rent for a room is £325 a month. This translates to an additional £4500 a year rental income simply by choosing the room rental route.

Surprisingly, perhaps, for London homeowners EasyRoommate.com found that the cost differential between renting a whole property or renting on a room-by-room basis was negligible.

Tamara Smith of EasyRoommate.com said: "People are becoming much more resourceful in the methods they are using to generate additional income from their homes.

"With property rentals falling and many homeowners finding that the rent doesn’t cover the mortgage, renting on a room-by-room basis could prove to be a potential property saver. By going down the room rental route they can potentially make up that shortfall between the rent and the mortgage.

"Interestingly, we have already seen the number of homeowners taking in lodgers rise significantly since the credit crunch started to bite and recently we’ve started seeing more and more people taking in multiple lodgers just to help pay the bills. Renting out your whole property to individual tenants is simply a natural progression."